


Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum - Extended CornRell Scene

by SonriaCat



Category: Star Trek: Discovery
Genre: AO3 exclusive, Episode: s01e08 Si Vis Pacem Para Bellum, Fake script, Gen, Screenplay/Script Format
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-20
Updated: 2018-08-20
Packaged: 2019-06-27 13:41:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 875
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15686547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SonriaCat/pseuds/SonriaCat
Summary: An imagination of how the longer version of the first Cornwell/L'Rell scene might have gone.  Written as a script.





	Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum - Extended CornRell Scene

**Author's Note:**

  * In response to a prompt by [MsEllieJane](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MsEllieJane/pseuds/MsEllieJane) in the [july2018](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/july2018) collection. 



> **Prompt:** In a [recent interview](http://www.denofgeek.com/us/tv/star-trek-discovery/270923/star-trek-discovery-crafting-the-cornrell-relationship), Jayne Brook discussed how her first scene with L'Rell was longer and more involved, but that it was cut shorter for time. Write your version of what happened during that first conversation! Is there a lot more yelling? Does Kat bust out her psychiatrist skills to take L'Rell down a peg? Do they plot a complicated escape plan that winds up going disastrously wrong? You decide!
> 
> #
> 
>  _Star Trek_ and _Star Trek: Discovery_ are the registered trademarks and copyrighted property of CBS Corporation and CBS Television Studios. This fiction item is intended for entertainment purposes only. No compensation has been received or will be accepted for it, and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended or should be implied.
> 
> Portions of the below are taken directly from the script of "Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum," which was written by Kirsten Beyer. I've tried to create this as it might have been originally written and filmed, prior to editing.

_FADE IN_

_INT. KLINGON SHIP - HOLDING CHAMBER_

_The doors open to admit L’RELL, who is carrying a rack of metal items. Many of them have sharp edges; others have hinges. Some have both, and all of them are rusty. It’s a set of torture instruments._

_CORNWELL raises her head from the table and then, with some effort, pushes herself all the way to her feet. She watches L’RELL warily as the other woman picks out one of the torture instruments and holds it up, examining it._

L’RELL  
_(almost contemplatively)_  
Scream.

_CORNWELL doesn’t respond._

L’RELL  
I said scream.

CORNWELL  
No.

_Unexpectedly, L’RELL jumps into CORNWELL’s face with a full-on scream of her own._

_A beat, and then CORNWELL responds in kind, baring her teeth and screaming back for a long moment._

_When they pause for breath, there’s a soft, masculine chuckle and a shadow moves across the door before it leaves._

L’RELL  
Good. You were convincing. The guard is gone.  
Now, we can talk.

CORNWELL  
I won’t give you any more information than I’ve given the others. Starfleet doesn’t cooperate with its enemies.

L’RELL  
And am I your enemy?

CORNWELL  
Well, you’re certainly not my friend.

_L’RELL considers this, turning the torture instrument in her hand. CORNWELL never takes her eyes off her._

L’RELL  
Do you know what this is?

CORNWELL  
Specifically? No. But I can guess the general idea.  
What I don’t know is whether you’ll actually use it.

L’RELL  
_(bristling)_  
You would dare question my courage?

CORNWELL  
Courage? What courage? You’re armed. I’m not.  
It doesn’t take a lot of courage to threaten harm to someone who can’t hurt you back.

L’RELL  
Are you so anxious to be tortured?

CORNWELL  
_(defiant)_  
What does it matter? You’re going to do it anyway.

_L’RELL is taken aback at this display of bravado, and after a long moment puts the instrument back on the rack._

L’RELL  
You have a singular spirit, for a human.

_A beat._

CORNWELL  
You’ll find some of us humans can be full of surprises.

L’RELL  
Some of you?  
T’Kuvma taught that humans do not value individuality. You seek uniformity. To make  
yourselves indistinguishable from each other. To be all alike.  
And you do look and act all the same.

CORNWELL  
I could say something similar about you Klingons.

L’RELL  
You speak an untruth.

CORNWELL  
Do I? Or is it a matter of perception?  
After all, aren’t your people trying to unite the houses into a single force? That would be uniformity.

L’RELL  
No. That is unity. We have common goals, but we continue to value the differences between the  
houses. To celebrate each one’s unique vision of what it means to remain Klingon.  
It is part of what makes us who we are. All of us, fighting for the dreams of Kahless as seen in the visions  
of T’Kuvma. Comrades in arms.

CORNWELL  
But you are different from the others, aren’t you?

L’RELL  
_(stiffly)_  
I follow Kahless. And T’Kuvma.

CORNWELL  
_(softer, conciliatory)_  
Of course you do.

_Then she starts pressing her point again._

CORNWELL (cont'd)  
But you’re not a soldier. You don’t even look like the others. Do they even value what you do?

L’RELL  
Yes. We are all brothers and sisters through Kahless and T’Kuvma.

CORNWELL  
Are you so sure they’d agree with you? What if you’re not able to get any information from me?  
What happens if you’re no longer useful to the war effort?

_The question rattles L’RELL, and there’s an uncomfortable pause as she works through the implications before focusing herself again._

L’RELL  
Rest assured, Admiral. I will obtain the information I seek.

CORNWELL  
And then what? You’ll execute me? Use me as food, the way you did the other prisoners?

L’RELL  
That is the way of war.

CORNWELL  
Not in the Federation, it isn’t. No matter how different our enemies may be from us.  
We can still respect their differences, even if we disagree with them.

L’RELL  
What happens to those who Starfleet captures?

CORNWELL  
In war? They’re imprisoned. Interrogated, humanely.  
Eventually, they’re returned to their people as part of any final peace settlement.

L’RELL  
So, you do not execute them?

CORNWELL  
_(with some pride)_  
The Federation has no death penalty.

_There’s a beat as L’RELL considers this. Then, she squares her shoulders and turns to face her fully._

L’RELL  
I wish to defect.

 _Now CORNWELL is suspicious_.

L’RELL (cont'd)  
You are correct. There’s nothing here for me now. The pe’taQ my people now follow has no  
honor. It is because of Kol I am alone.  
I had like-minded brothers and sisters, even the one chosen by Lord T’Kuvma to be his successor. But he  
was chased away, forever gone. Everyone is gone.  
My vessel is in a nearby hangar. Kahless willing, we will use it to both escape with our lives, and  
you will guarantee me safe passage onto your ship.

CORNWELL  
My ship?

L’RELL  
Discovery. I know its shuttle delivered you to the trap on Cancri IV.

CORNWELL  
_(still suspicious)_  
That’s quite a change in attitude. Why should I trust you?

L’RELL  
Because we need each other, Admiral. And what other option do you have?

_Off CORNWELL as she looks closer at L'RELL, trying to decide if this is real or just another trick._

_FADE OUT_


End file.
